Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I wasn’t sure about this blend. I mean … you know me, I’m a chocoholic, so I LOVE chocolate, and chocolate teas are some of my favorite teas to be tasting. But, I have been kind of on the fence about iced chocolate tea. I don’t know why.
But wow! This is yummy!
It really tastes very chocolate malt-ish … but without the thick, rich ice cream-y texture of a chocolate malt. But the flavors are all there. It’s like sipping on a very thin chocolate malt.
It’s got a strong chocolate flavor (I like that!) and I can even taste the notes of malt. The natural nutty notes of the honeybush seem to accentuate the malt flavor. And I can even taste subtle notes of vanilla in there. It’s sweet and chocolate-y and just … so very yummy!
I like this a whole lot more than I expected I would.
To brew this, I brought a quart of water to a near boil: 195°F. Then I dropped the large tea bag into the vessel and let it steep for 9 1/2 minutes and strained the brewed liquid into my favorite glass 2 quart tea pitcher. Then I brought a second quart of water to 195°F and resteeped the tea bag for 12 minutes.
Remember, with honeybush, you can steep the leaves longer than you would steep the leaves of Camellia Sinensis because there are very little (if any) tannins in the honeybush leaves. You won’t get a bitter brew! The reason I go with a slightly below boiling temperature with honeybush (and rooibos) is because I find that if I go with a boiling temperature, I end up with a sort of ‘sour wood’ sort of flavor that I don’t enjoy. The slightly lower temperature eliminates this funky flavor. This little tip has helped me to enjoy honeybush and especially rooibos a lot more than I used to.
And I REALLY am enjoying this Chocolate Malt Iced Tea. It’s awesome!
Rooibos Ginger Peach Tisane from Tea of Life
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Tisane Description:
Pronounced “roy-boss” and means “red bush” in Afrkaans, studies have shown this tea is comparable to green tea in the amounts of EGCG it contains. Rooibos is totally pure and natural. It contains no colorants or preservatives.
And Rooibos tastes divine! It is less bitter than most teas.
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m making more of an effort to drink more tisanes in the evening. Until recently, I would continue drinking Camellia Sinensis teas well into the evening, up to just a couple of hours before I go to bed. And I’ve come to realize that it does affect my ability to fall asleep. So, when it starts getting close to bedtime, I’ve been turning to caffeine free drinks like rooibos and honeybush, and on the nights when I know I need to catch some zzz … I even have a chamomile tea. I’ve noticed a difference with my sleeping patterns now that I’m drinking more tisane later in the evening.
Tonight, I wanted something soothing on my tummy, so I reached for this Rooibos Ginger Peach from Tea of Life. I like that it’s sweet from the peach notes and the honeyed, nutty flavors of the rooibos, but there’s just enough of a zesty kick from the ginger to give the cup some contrasting flavor.
The ginger isn’t an overpowering flavor. It starts out rather subtle. The first couple of sips, I could barely taste the ginger. But as I continued to sip, the ginger flavor began to develop, and now there is a gentle heat at the back of the palate. I feel the warmth of the ginger but it’s not too hot.
And the sweetness of the peach curbs the zing of the ginger. Ginger and peach are a classic flavor combination and they really complement each other well in this tisane.
The rooibos is sweet, slightly earthy and nutty but I like that the drink doesn’t taste too strongly of rooibos, which is not my favorite flavor. The natural honey-like sweetness melds quite nicely with the peach and ginger notes.
Overall, a pleasant cup to enjoy later in the day.
Pick Me Up Peach White Tea Blend from Inca Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Inca Tea
Tea Description:
Being our first caffeinated blend we wanted it to embody a refreshing yet clean taste. Its a rejuvenating combination of white tea, lush peaches and sweet herbs.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ah! Peaches! As soon as I tore into the pouch holding the pyramid sachet of this Pick Me Up Peach White Tea, the aroma of peach filled the room! The fragrance is very abundantly PEACH!
And the taste is also very abundantly peach. Sweet, luscious peach – which is perfect for this time of year when the peaches are in season. YUM! The peach flavor is sweet and true to the fruit. It doesn’t taste like an artificial or even a candied peach flavor.
But this blend also has hibiscus and rose hips in it, and it should come as no surprise to those of you who read this blog regularly that hibiscus is not my favorite herbal. I’m wishing that the hibiscus just wasn’t there. Yeah, it adds a hint of tartness which is a nice contrast to the sweet peach notes, and because of the hibiscus the brewed tea is a beautiful ruby color. And as long as it’s not steeped too long, it doesn’t have a syrupy consistency. (I steeped this for 4 minutes at 170°F.)
However, I do feel like the hibiscus and rose hips do interfere a bit with the delivery of the white tea flavor. It seems a little masked by everything else that’s going on in this blend. White tea is delicate, and these strong herbal flavors really shouldn’t be in a white tea blend.
I don’t taste much of the white tea. I taste a slight airy, earthy quality that is distinctly white tea, but because of the hibiscus, I’m missing some of the softer textures that I enjoy with a white tea. I’m also missing some of those sweet fruit notes that I believe would meld beautifully with the peach flavors.
The purple corn adds a slight “warm grain” sort of flavor that is quite appealing, and I am enjoying. The apple is not a strong note here, and I suspect it is part of this blend for it’s sweetness rather than to provide a strong apple-y flavor. And that’s what I’m getting from it.
Overall, this IS tasty, but I think it could be so much better without the hibiscus. I feel like the hibiscus overpowers the white tea. But I love the peach notes, and I like the purple corn. It’s a different kind of flavor that I’m not used to tasting in tea and I like it. It’s not an invasive flavor and I like how it complements the other flavors of this cup.
Blueberry Banana Flavored Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This iced tea is tasty!
I really like the combination of blueberry and banana. The blueberry is the top note. It is sweet with a pleasant level of tartness – not too sour or tart, I’m not puckering … but there’s just enough tartness to add a little bit of contrast. The banana is more like an undertone. It’s consistently there throughout the sip, from start to finish, but it isn’t a loud or aggressive flavor. Then again, banana isn’t usually a loud or aggressive flavor, is it?
It’s a sweet banana flavor, but I’m not getting the “candy-ish” banana flavor that I often get from the Southern Boy Teas/52Teas banana flavored blends. It tastes sweet but it doesn’t taste like banana runts.
I’m not a big fan of banana runts, so I consider this a good thing. I like the other runts in the package, but I’m always passing the banana runts over to my daughter, who loves them.
The blueberry flavor perks up the blend, adding it’s own “brightness” to the glass. Sweet with just a hint of berry tarty tingle at the finish. Yum!
The black tea is not overwhelmed by these flavors, either. It’s a brisk yet smooth tasting black tea base. The three flavors – black tea, banana and blueberry – work together very well to create a pleasantly sweet, refreshing iced tea. I like this blend. I can see myself getting more of this one in the future.
Honeybush Herbal Tisane from Simple Loose Leaf
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf here.
Tisane Description:
A sweet, smooth honey-scented herbal tea, Honeybush is made up of the leaves, stems, and flowers of a bush native to South Africa. Honeybush provides a bit of a natural smoked flavor with a touch of a tart finish. It is caffeine-free, low in tannins and contains antioxidants, making it a delicious, healthy, and versatile beverage.
Ingredients: South African Honeybush Herbal Tea
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Save 25% off when you sign up for the Selection Club. Use the coupon code SISTERSELECTION25 when you join. This discount is applicable only to the monthly Selection Club subscription and not the retail selection of teas.
Taster’s Review:
It’s not very often that I have a cup of straight-up honeybush anymore. Usually, I’m tasting honeybush as part of a flavored blend. But as I sit here, sipping on this Honeybush from this month’s box from Simple Loose Leaf, I find that I’m quite enjoying this! I’m enjoying it a lot more than I expected to.
In fact, as I was brewing it, my attitude was kind of glib. I wasn’t all that excited about it. I mean, it’s not like I’ve not tried pure honeybush in the past.
But as I said, it’s been a while since the last time I had a cup of pure honeybush. I don’t know for sure how long it’s been, but it’s been long enough to where I’ve forgotten just how tasty a cup of straight-up honeybush tastes.
It’s sweet and honey-esque. Hence the name. There is a nutty note to it, and a slight woodsy tone. The description above suggests a “natural smoked flavor” and while I can’t say that I ever remember that smoky note in the past, I am noticing it now. It’s slightly toasty. It enhances the nutty flavors, so perhaps that’s why the smoky/toasty note was indistinguishable in the past because what was “smoky” or “toasty” was also “nutty.”
It’s a very soothing beverage, and because it’s naturally caffeine free, it’s one that you can drink later in the evening without worry that you’ll start bouncing off the walls from a caffeinated buzz. And while pure honeybush is not something that I keep on hand regularly, it sure is nice to have a cup of it every once in a while, and I have Simple Loose Leaf to thank for reminding me of that!
That’s one of the reasons that I absolutely LOVE the Selection Club tea box that arrives from Simple Loose Leaf in my mailbox every month. I get five sampler size packages of high quality loose leaf tea in every box. Each month, these five teas are different, and every month, the box is a new adventure. It’s so much fun to receive this box every month!